Rewind
by Demetria0620
Summary: Kumo broke Tobirama's mind using the memories of Izuna's abuse.Izuna wished that he could rewind the time and undo all the pain and trauma he had unknowingly inflicted on his brother.(Happened between chapter 6 and 8 of Curse of Hatred. Clan Swap!AU. Tobirama is an Uchiha.)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** **This is supposed to happen between chapter 6 and 8 of Curse of Hatred, so you better off reading that one first.  
**

 **Un-betaed. And I'm too lazy and busy to proofread it on my own, so ye have been warned.**

* * *

Izuna knew that it would never be easy.

After all, he burnt down the bridge that Tobirama tried so hard to build and destroyed the foundation from the very root of their shared blood.

Forgiveness wouldn't come easy after all that.

* * *

"You need to eat," Izuna murmured, coaxing and gentle as he schooled his face to a flat poker face despite the pained clench of guilt that twisted in his chest. "Even if it's just a little, it would help to ease you back to eating proper food."

Dark eyes flickered up from the food tray to meet his own, and the irony struck Izuna before he could prepare for it.

One of those dark eyes were once his while the other belonged to Kagami.

Those eyes were once filled with fear and distrust—Izuna's fear of Tobirama and Kagami's own distrust to Izuna.

Looking into the depths of those newly-transplanted eyes, Izuna saw the exact same emotions inside. Fear and distrust haunted Tobirama's wary gaze where once upon a time it was only unconditional love that was present in that gaze.

But the ruby eyes filled with love were no longer there.

One of those loving rubies was implanted into Izuna's own skull while the other was claimed by Kagami. The idea to swap their eyes to cure the ever problematic issue of deteriorating sharingan was originally Mito's suggestion, but to share the eyes between the three of them was all Kagami and Izuna's idea.

Izuna looked at the dark eyes of his brother and wondered if this was the thing that Tobirama saw all those years ago.

Fear. Distrust. Wariness.

Was it always _this_ painful to see such emotions in the eyes of the brother you so dearly loved? How did Tobirama cope with this for _years? How_ did he cope seeing how much his beloved brother despised him?

How did he live with _that_ knowledge?

"Aniki," Izuna called, wanting to reach out and wrap his arms around Tobirama's bony frame but—

—Tobirama flinched.

Izuna halted.

He really did burn the bridge, huh?

Now that Tobirama was more sober and no longer under the influence of the high dosage of painkillers that Mito had prescribed to him, everything showed with crystal clarity, laid out bare for the world to see.

Tobirama's mental state was a wreck.

The effects of the torture that Kumo put him through and the abuse that Izuna and the rest of the Uchiha clan have inflicted on him has now resurfaced from the dark and reared its ugly head. Fear and distrust haunted his eyes while his body tensed and flinched when Izuna so much as _moved._

How could Izuna fix this?

How would one mend such horribly destroyed bridge?

"Aniki," Izuna murmured again, settling with only his hands intertwined tightly around the long bony digits of Tobirama's. "Try to eat, please?"

Tobirama's gaze landed back onto the food tray and Izuna felt another invisible stab in his chest when a tiny frown grew on his brother's forehead. It was just a simple fish soup—nothing heavy because Tobirama's body kept rejecting anything else out—but Izuna has ensured that the soup was as flavourful as it could be and the fish they used for it was freshly caught.

Should this food come from someone else, Izuna knew that Tobirama wouldn't hesitate like this.

But he bit back his comments. It was his fault after all. Throughout their years growing up, Izuna could count with one hand the instances where the food he offered to his brother was not tampered with any kind of poison. Thus, he unlaced his hand from his brother's and took a spoonful from the bowl. Izuna could feel Tobirama's gaze on him, could feel the wariness and caution that spiked in the bijuu-infused chakra field that his brother has refused to let down, but he squared on, eyes calmly closed as he sipped the spoon empty.

 _It's not poisoned. So please, Aniki, please—_

To his relief, when he offered the spoon again there was less resistance in the reception.

There was still doubt that lingered—nothing that Izuna could do to ease that doubt—but Tobirama has started eating and that was all that mattered.

With a slight smile, Izuna retreated to his chair by the cot, getting out of his brother's space. Though, he couldn't resist the urge to wrap one hand around Tobirama's free wrist. It still felt surreal—to have his brother back after being convinced that the man was dead for the whole year and a half—so Izuna clung to the steady slow pace of Tobirama's pulse, treasuring and taking comfort from the gentle beats.

He had to hold back a grimace when he felt the bones underneath his half-brother's sickly pale skin.

Too skinny. Tobirama was too skinny, even by the standard of a former war prisoner. Izuna knew that this was to be expected, moreover after hearing Mito's diagnosis and reading Madara's written report. He knew that this was to be expected, knowing that Kumo kept Tobirama alive with only a half-assed soldier pill and a glass of water per day throughout the whole a year and a half they kept the man captive.

It was expected, but the guilt still hurt, haunting Izuna with the memories of his own utter lack of care and concern back then when his brother suffered alone behind the enemy lines.

Keeping his gentle hold over the frail wrist, Izuna ignored the tensed muscles under his palm and stubbornly held on.

Tobirama has never given up on loving him after all, thus Izuna would not give up attempting to mend their broken relationship.

He was the one who burnt their bridge after all.

Rebuilding it would take a lot of effort.

* * *

Izuna was at his wit's end.

In all seriousness, how did Tobirama survived _this_ for a whole twenty-something year?

It has only been a few weeks being at the receiving end of his brother's cold wariness yet Izuna was so close to breaking down, so close to throwing all sense of dignity out of the window and grovel for forgiveness right at Tobirama's feet.

He would have done that, no longer caring at this point, but Madara and Kagami have each put a hand on his shoulder and give him a stern gaze.

 _"No. Don't manipulate his feelings like that,"_ they had said _._

So Izuna didn't. He didn't drop by his brother's feet and beg for forgiveness.

(But _Gods,_ he really wanted to.)

The twisting hurt in his chest was unbearable, no matter how much Izuna knew that he deserved the cautious coldness Tobirama was channelling every time they stood in close proximity to each other.

How did Tobirama survive this? Izuna didn't even have the decency back then to pretend that he _liked_ Tobirama. Contrary to that, Tobirama still has the grace to pretend in public, fooling even Hashirama that he and Izuna have completely mended their broken brotherhood.

Compared to that, Izuna's current predicament was _easy_.

After all, it must have been worse for Tobirama to be at the receiving end of Izuna's unfiltered hatred.

But it was not easy, no it was not.

"This is your house too," Izuna strained hard to not sound pleading, knowing that if he let the words came out as pleas, Tobirama would cave into his words despite his own feelings.

Manipulating his brother's soft heart was the last thing Izuna wanted to do when he was aiming to regain Tobirama's broken and fragile trust.

"Stay overnight," thus, Izuna insisted again, gesturing wildly over the hallway. "I keep your room clean while you're gone. Madara can have the extra futon."

Tobirama hesitated, wariness flickered in his eyes as bijuu-infused chakra spread around the perimeter. There was a spike of adrenaline and caution that tainted the furl of chakra as Tobirama sought around the perimeter, looking for unseen threats.

It was expected—this distrustful reaction—considering that Izuna and the Uchiha clan used to seek for every opening possible to assassinate him, using all means possible to end his life. But it still hurt, to know that his brother didn't even trust their clan enough to feel safe in the compound. It was irrational, to feel hurt for something that they brought upon themselves, but Izuna was never famed for his rationality.

It was justified, of course. Tobirama's distrust was perfectly justified. Their clan has given nothing but pain and grief to the silver-haired man. They hurled verbal abuse to his face every chance they got. They sent out assassins to take him out. They tampered his food and drinks with poison. Heck, they even stooped so low to use Tobirama's kids—little Kagami first, followed by other children— as their agents to assassinate the man.

They earned this distrust.

"That might be a good idea," Madara chirped, planting himself right in his seat like his brother's mokuton has rooted him there. "Give you a break from the kids. You haven't gotten much sleep this past week, always fretting over them and all."

Izuna was deeply grateful for the Senju's willingness to help his cause.

"They are not a burden," Tobirama retorted, but from the slack of his shoulders underneath that loose Senju kimono shirt, it was evident that he was not about to argue more. "They are just _handful."_

Madara rolled his eyes.

"And you're just discharged from the hospital," the Senju retorted. "Take up your brother's offer and spend a peaceful sleep here tonight," Madara huffed, scowling when Tobirama opened his mouth. "Kagami raised those kids without you for a whole year. He can survive a night hearing them complain of not being able to sleep with you."

"Sometimes, I think you hate my boy."

"Your boy _hates_ me."

Tobirama frowned. "No, he doesn't," he said, striding towards the Senju to curl by Madara's side. "Kagami adores you."

Madara snorted but didn't say anything.

Izuna had been there when Kagami pulled the Senju aside to give him _the_ talk and it was both amusing and horrifying to see the colour drained from Madara's face when Kagami colourfully described what he was going to do to a very specific anatomy of Madara should Tobirama showed the slightest sign of hurt.

The creepily grinning children surrounding them was the drizzling extra rich sauce of that dango.

The pair then retreated to a hushed a conversation that Izuna didn't bother to eavesdrop. Madara has the grace of putting their rivalry aside to help Izuna mend his broken brotherhood with Tobirama, so it was perfectly polite for Izuna to return that gesture by allowing the Senju some privacy with his beloved. Thus, Izuna walked out of the living room to collect the extra futon for Madara, despite knowing that it would be likely not used, if the way Tobirama clung to Madara on the cot back at the hospital was any hints of their current sleep arrangement.

That would surely give Izuna a headache later, considering that Tobirama's now obvious engagement to Hashirama's little brother would surely cause a riot among the Uchiha elders, but they all owed Tobirama _this._

The clan have rejoiced when Hashirama announced that their silver-haired leader was killed in action. They threw a party at what was supposed to be Tobirama's funeral wake. The Uchiha had a silent celebration while the newly born Konoha grieved upon that loss.

It was Senju Madara who refused to give up and went into a solo infiltration behind Kumo's borders—the mission that originally aimed to bring Tobirama's corpse back.

Instead of a corpse, Madara brought back a living and breathing Tobirama.

The Uchiha clan has no say in who Tobirama chose. They owed him nothing to have that authority over his head.

Plus, if they have any problem and made a fuss with it, Izuna was sure that Hashirama and Kagami would be kind enough to share the hitlist with him.

Madara was the equivalent to safety and comfort to Tobirama.

Izuna hoped that one day Tobirama would see those in their clan too.

* * *

Weeks passed. Madara and Tobirama have gotten closer, now openly displaying affections in public—all the hand-holding, hugs and cheek kisses that successfully made Konoha went into a flowery mood, happy for their happiness—instead of the secret dates they had before.

Madara has completely owned Tobirama's heart and vice versa.

Izuna couldn't say that he has achieved the same result in these months he tried to win his brother's heart back.

How Izuna wished that he could rewind the time.

Despite his best effort to rebuild his broken brotherhood with his elder brother, there was still a barrier that Izuna could not penetrate to reach Tobirama's heart.

He now regretted the years he spent hurting his brother when Tobirama has worn his heart out for Izuna. Back then, Tobirama has shown Izuna his heart, sincere and hopeful to be real brothers and what did Izuna do?

He crushed his brother's heart without a second thought.

And now, despite the lingering smile that Tobirama shown him, despite their superficially good relationship, Tobirama has completely closed off his heart to Izuna. It was like trying to grasp at a mist. He could still see it—see the unconditional love Tobirama still have for him, see the place Tobirama still reserve for him in his heart—yet Izuna could not reach it, stopped by fear and distrust that he knew his brother has no control of.

Trauma, Hashirama has murmured to him once, when the Hokage caught Izuna staring longingly at Tobirama's back. The constant rejection and abuse that Izuna hurled towards Tobirama during their younger years growing up together was a constant sore spot in Tobirama's mind. It then morphed into trauma after Kumo, because what T&I agents would not use such glaring weakness against a prisoner who might as well be a legend of their era?

Kumo broke Tobirama's mind using the memories of Izuna's abuse.

Izuna wished that he could rewind the time and undo all the pain and trauma he had unknowingly inflicted on his brother.

How he wished he could rewind time.

He wanted to return to their childhood and stopped himself from establishing this foundation of hatred that was the base of their relationship. He wanted to wrap his arms around Tobirama's small body when his brother grieved upon his lost family—the mother and little brother that have left him—and assured that they still have each other, Uchiha Tajima's last sons. He wanted to stop his clan from hurling verbal abuse to his brother, knowing that they only dared to do that because Izuna was okay with it and Tajima was out on clan business.

He wanted to stop these painful memories from ever forming inside Tobirama's head.

Izuna wanted to rewind the time and fix every mistake he did to his brother.

But he couldn't.

What's done was done.

Tobirama would forever hold memories of horrible past, tainted with loss and abuse.

To rewind time is impossible.

* * *

Izuna has completely forgotten that Tobirama's answer to all impossibility was _challenge accepted._

* * *

It was a year later when the gods answered Izuna's fleeting wish.

It was one of the rare winter days. The snowy day that would only hit Fire Country when Mother Nature decided to fuck with the ecosystem and gifted the ever warm and sunny Fire Country with its first snow in eighty years. Most of the shinobi have not lived long enough to witness such strange phenomena, only having heard of its tales from their elders or from anyone who has the luck to be sent to the mission at countries with a colder climate than Fire Country. Winter in Fire Country was typically equal to the rainy season and never went cold enough to have these strange white fluffiness that floated down from the heavens. Thus, they bundled up in their warmest mission gear and explored their curiosity of the rare natural phenomenon. Merchants were quick to seize the chance of business and it wasn't long before Konoha involuntarily started a festival to celebrate the first snow in the village's history.

Izuna was obediently waiting in Hashirama's office with the rest of the founders and Clan Head as they waited for Madara to retrieve Tobirama from the labs when he got his wish answered.

Hashirama wanted to organise some kind of game events to celebrate the snow. The Hokage was being oddly chirpy despite the snow not being a good element for his trees, but Hashirama has claimed that the snow won't be permanent and they all should enjoy this gift while it hasn't melted yet. Thus, he has called all of the Clan Head to his office to organise the game events, wanting to unite everyone in Konoha—civilian and shinobi, children and adults, humans and summons—through a friendly gaming festival.

They were arguing about the scoring rubric for the snowman building competition when Hashirama's door was literally busted open and destroyed for good by the man's own little brother.

"ANIKI!ANE-UE!"

On a normal occasion, Madara's frantic flailing would have earned a well-deserved laugh. But today, not one soul in the office knew how to react to Madara's violent and ungraceful entrance.

The Senju Clan Heir's hair was wet with traces of snow while puffs of cold mist slipped out of his panting pale lips. Madara was not wearing any coat—the thick outerwear was bunched up in his arms instead—and the Senju has all but flailed, extending the bundle in his arms like that would explain what the heck just happened to make him this frazzled and panicked.

Then, there was a tiny sneeze, the bundle shifted in Madara's arms and a silver head poked out of the bundle to peek at them with wary wide black eyes.

Oh.

Madara has all the rights to be panicked.

"I went to his lab and found him like this," Madara blurted out, less yelling now as his panic been reduced to the acceptable level upon meeting Hashirama's calm gaze. "He didn't remember me. Or Konoha. Heck, he was asking for _Tajima_."

A shrunken, de-aged and amnesiac Tobirama. Madara has all the rights in the world to panic indeed.

Heck, even Mito would not berate him for destroying the door of the Hokage's office. The woman was busy gaping herself, for once was speechless as her eyes widened in shock.

Hashirama, on the other hand, simply blinked, gaze flat and deeply unimpressed as he eyed the little boy in Madara's hold.

"I take it that is my nephew?" the Hokage asked, as if he was so used to weird shenanigans that Madara seemed to routinely pull out of literal nowhere.

"IT'S NOT TIME FOR THAT JOKE, HASHI."

The Hokage chuckled, head thrown back in genuine amusement. "Just trying to lighten the atmosphere," he hummed as he rose from his seat, bending a little to level his gaze with Tobirama's once he was in front of Madara. "Hello, Tobi," he greeted with a gentle smile. "Aren't you extra adorable today?"

A light flush rose up to the pale chubby cheeks.

"What the actual fuck—?"

"Language!" Madara and Chonami hissed the exact time Inomaru slapped a hand across Shikako mouth.

The wide dark eyes blinked at the Nara woman, almost adorably, even when they morphed into two different patterns of Eternal Mangekyou.

They all waited with bated breath, allowing the spinning gaze to scrutinise them—some of the Clan Heads were petrified with awe as this was the first time they have witnessed Tobirama's sharingan after the three-way transplant—before it finally landed square on Izuna.

"So he is not lying."

Izuna's breath hitched upon hearing that curious voice.

There was no strain of years-worth pain in that voice. Tobirama's voice was the exact same like when Izuna first met him, filled with childish wonders and curiosity, a dash of reasonable caution of course (they were shinobi after all), but his voice was not yet tainted with hurt and fear of being hated by his own clan.

"Why would I lie to you?!" Madara squawked, sounding deeply offended as he poked on the soft baby fats of Tobirama's cheeks. "I would never lie to you."

"More like you _couldn't_ ," Touka sniffed, though her sharp predatory gaze was eyeing little Tobirama with pure manic interest. "And you're right, Hashi...," she purred. "Kid is totally _adorable._ "

Madara reflexively pulled Tobirama's small frame tighter to his chest, curling over the shrunken Uchiha protectively.

"Stay away from him, you cougar."

"Now, now baby cousin...," Touka grinned, flashing her fangs with an unveiled threat. "No need to be so possessive."

"No," Madara growled, low and deep in his throat before he sent a warning glare to the squirming child in his arms. "And you, how could you think that I will ever lie to you?!"

"You're a Senju," Tobirama huffed, narrowing his dual-patterned sharingan towards the man. "Weird as it is, your chakra carries a strong Senju signature. We're _enemies_ ," he added, red eyes skimming across the office before it once again landed on Izuna. A frown then graced the child's face. "We're all enemies yet there is no harm done upon that Uchiha."

 _That_ Uchiha.

Izuna felt his heart spasmed and twisted upon hearing those flat words, despite knowing that there was no way this Tobirama could remember his chakra signature. Judging from his frame, Tobirama could not be anymore older than nine, thus making the Izuna in his memories to be around seven years old—too young to have properly developed chakra coils like Izuna now.

This unfamiliarity was expected.

Yet, it hurts to be seen as a stranger by his own brother.

Madara spluttered.

"MY CHAKRA IS NOT WEIRD!"

"You have strong katon within you," Tobirama sniffed, but made no move to resist Madara's tightening embrace around his body. "The Senju is a clan of growth. Their elements are typically suiton and doton—the elements that _grow._ "

"Well, you're an Uchiha and the strongest suiton user!" Madara argued, seems to have forgotten that he was in a room of leaders who now was witnessing him arguing with a child. "That logic is flawed!"

They all didn't expect for Tobirama's small shoulders to slump, his rounded jaw trembled as he lowered his gaze, hands shaking with tremors against Madara's broad chest.

Izuna swallowed the bile that rose up to his throat, already hearing the words before it slipped out of Tobirama's pale lips.

"I didn't belong among the Uchiha."

Izuna squeezed his eyes shut, regret and anger washed down his entire form.

Regret, because those were the exact words he hurled towards Tobirama all those years ago.

Anger, because his younger self was the one who planted that poisonous thought inside Tobirama's mind.

He didn't even have to open his eyes to feel the stares that were directed on him as the pieces fell to places. Izuna knew that other Clan Heads have been picking up signs—especially the Ino-Shika-Cho trio, whose loyalty to Tobirama has gone beyond anyone would have expected—and it was only the matter of time before the feud within the Uchiha came to their knowledge.

"Their loss then," Chonami's words were dripping with venom as she strode towards the trembling bundle in Madara's arms. "I'm Akimichi Chonami, at your service, sir," she introduced herself, lips curled to a pleasant smile.

It was a reflex term, considering that Chonami has been called out of retirement a few times to work under Tobirama's leadership for a few missions that required her specialities, but Tobirama was gaping at her anyway, acting like he couldn't believe what she just used to refer to him.

(Which was perfectly understandable, because his current form was that of a child and to have a middle-aged woman referring to him like he was her respectable commander was probably freaking him out more than he let on.)

Before Tobirama could even gather himself, Inomaru continued on with the introduction.

"Yamanaka Inomaru, sir," the blonde man tipped his head, lips quirking to a tiny grin. "What do you know of your current situation, Tobirama-sama?"

Tobirama blinked, seemingly to be taken aback at the respectful honorific but he was a prodigious shinobi for a reason thus he promptly snapped to attention, answering the question with a firm unwavering tone.

"I was told that I shrunk in age by a few decades," he started, giving a somewhat suspicious gaze at Madara. "That I'm supposedly thirty-two years old instead of eight and the war has ended a few years ago."

"And you founded Konoha alongside with me," Hashirama added with a gentle smile, placing his large hand over the silver fluffy tuft of hair. "Do you remember anything before you shrunk?"

To this, Tobirama shook his head.

"It could be a seal," Mito hummed with unveiled interest, gliding towards her brother-in-law and reached her hand to tip Tobirama's soft chin up. "You're a fuuinjutsu master," she added with a gentler voice upon meeting the boy's confused gaze. "As I am. We often collaborate together."

There was a bright excited glaze in Tobirama's eyes upon meeting her firm smile.

"It could be one of his experiments too," Inomaru piped in, already in professional mode now. "The children is testing out the fountain of youth legend. Tobirama-sama might have helped with their pet project."

"Like the unreasonable doting father he is...," Madara grumbled, sending a glare at the silver-haired child in his arms. "You spoiled your kids way too much."

Tobirama looked up at him with widened hopeful dark eyes, lips trembling as if something in the Senju's words have given him hope. He opened his mouth a few times, seeming like he wanted to speak, but no words came out.

When he finally did speak, it was in the form of a tiny hopeful squeak.

"Someone loves me enough to raise a family with me?"

It was an innocent hopeful question—a perfectly justified question to anyone that knew the craving for love Tobirama had ever since Tajima brought him into the Uchiha—but the reactions to his question were anything but innocent.

If looks could kill Izuna would have been a dead splat by the wall.

But he didn't care.

His gaze was fixed on the eight-year-old boy in Madara's embrace—the small form of his elder brother, still untouched by the hatred of the world—and Izuna saw a chance of atonement.

This time around, Izuna was going to shower his brother with all the love that Tobirama deserved.

This time, he will do it right.

* * *

 **A/N:** **And the award for the most horrible muse goes to...**

 **Really, I hate my muse for feeding this idea to me. But he is kinda miffed I left out Grandma Sachiko's reaction to Tobirama's return and that complaint spiral down to _this._**

 **Tobirama shrunk to the age of 8 with no memories what so ever beyond that age. Though, he still has his EMS (because come on, he was shrunken, not transported back from past) and Tabi is still in his belly, deeply amused to be a kitten again. Unlike Tobi, Tabi has the memories of what happened but decided not to share because she is an asshole cat that loves Tobi so much but enjoys tormenting Konoha.**

 **And Kagami is not there because he is running late. Team Demon decided to band together against their captain to force him to wash away all the blood and grime from their last mission first before allowing Kagami to attend the Clan Head meeting.**

 **Next up might include Izuna playing father to shrunken Tobi and Kagami's reaction. Idk. I don't trust my muse to not whisper anything else to me.**

 **Till then, e** **njoy. And please curse my muse. He is horrible.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: My stupid ass asked my muse for another prompt and I got conveniently distracted with that one.**

 **Long story short, I forgot that this story is not a one-shot. lol**

* * *

Tobirama is... _small_.

It was a bit bizarre to acknowledge that fact now that he towered over the silver-haired. It has never crossed Izuna's mind that there would be the day that Tobirama has to look up to meet his gaze instead of the other way around. Izuna was the younger brother, so he was always the smaller and shorter one between the two of them. Plus, with the difference between Hatake and Uchiha genetic, Izuna was never able to tower over Tobirama, even after he finally hit his growth spurt. The Hatake genetic from his mother has made Tobirama a towering presence among the Uchiha, even long before his puberty hit.

But tall as he was, his frame was small.

"Uchiha-san?"

Izuna snapped out of his thought, looking down towards the wary boy that was gazing up at him. His shrunken brother now stood no taller than Izuna's own waist—a few centimetres taller than typical height of Uchiha child his age—but Tobirama's frame was so small and skinny. His shoulders have not yet developed to the broad breadth of his adult self and through the floppy collar of the oversized shirt, Izuna could see the pronounced ribs that outlined his brother's chest.

Izuna held back a grimace.

He had a fleeting hunch on why he could see Tobirama's ribs _now_ despite his brother having regained his healthy physique of a fit shinobi just weeks before this shrinking happened.

"I thought he has been eating better," Touka commented, squatting beside Izuna to get a better look at the silver-haired boy. "Why the fuck I can see your ribs, brat?"

" _Language._ "

There was a unison collective reprimand from a good number of adults in the room.

Touka scowled. "He is thirty-two, damn it."

"Does that look like a thirty-two years old man to you?" Madara retorted, face scrunched up to a disapproving frown as he gestured at the hunched-up boy. "Mind your language, cousin."

"All of you are sensitive as fuck," the Senju kunoichi grumbled, opening her mouth again to argue. "Brat is already a mini-terror even at this age. Bad language won't scar him."

Izuna would have entertained the amusing argument, but there was a slight tug on his pants and his attention was immediately diverted towards his elder brother.

Izuna's heart then was promptly sent flying over the moon.

Tobirama was clinging to his pants, little fists clutched on the dark fabrics over Izuna's thighs as he inched even closer to the adult, probably growing wary at the arguments of former enemies. He has been strangely accepting up to this point, but Izuna knew that there was a chance that Tobirama was simply playing along with them because he was at a disadvantage—his brother was simply too smart to blindly accept their story of him being de-aged over two decades from his actual age. It was a good strategy, to play along and get to know his opponents, moreover now that Tobirama was a child among a group of full-grown shinobi that were strangers to him.

Having his own autonomy now that Madara has finally let him down, Tobirama naturally moved closer to Izuna, probably seeking comfort from the nearest Uchiha he could find.

When Tobirama was eight—merely a year after he was brought into the clan—Tajima used to stick around the clan's compound as frequent as the man could. Thus, because of the man's presence in the compound, there was less chance for the Uchiha to express their dislike to the silver-haired heir of their leader.

Tajima has no tolerance whatsoever to anyone he caught speaking badly of his half-blooded son.

At the age of eight, Tobirama's trust was still not completely broken by the hatred of his own clan, hence this instant reaction of seeking comfort from another Uchiha was perfectly normal.

That, and the fact that a catfight between Madara and Touka was probably freaky enough on its own to scare the shrunken Uchiha.

"Brother-in-law. Touka- _chan._ "

Touka and Madara stopped arguing upon the stern firm voice of the Uzumaki princess, looking comically horrified even when Touka still has her hair in Madara's tight fists while Madara's cheeks were still trapped in the kunoichi's merciless grip. They froze in that position, similar dark eyes blinked warily at Mito.

"Behave yourselves," Mito smiled—all ice and sharp authority—as she nodded in Tobirama's direction. "Do remember that he does not have any memories of our peace. Your immaturity might terrify him."

Tobirama shifted, half-hiding himself behind Izuna as all eyes were now centred on him.

"You still have doubts on your predicament, right?" Mito cooed, softening her stern smile to something gentler and kinder once she met Tobirama's shocked expression—the child likely did not expect for anyone to pick up on his act. "We're all strangers that came from clans that were not allied to the Uchiha back during the war. You likely see us as enemies now."

"We _are_ enemies," Tobirama finally said, eyeing the gathered leaders with a wary gaze, chakra extended to cover the whole room. "And de-ageing sounds more like a fantasy rather than facts."

"You'll be surprised to know how much your adult self defied facts and made fantasy a reality," Mito hummed, but made no move to resist when Tobirama's chakra reached her.

The Clan Heads allowed themselves to be touched by the spreading chakra too, relaxing their energy in the effort to show the confused boy that they meant him no harm. It took some time, but their effort seemed to work as Tobirama's frown grew deeper with confusion rather than wariness.

"Supposedly," the boy added after a moment of hesitation, voice softer. "We are at war..."

"That was ages ago," Touka snorted, rolling her eyes and released one of Madara's cheeks to gesture aimlessly at the occupants of the office. "The only war that is probably going to happen is the war between these idiots on who gets to babysit you."

Izuna found himself to shift, keeping one hand on his brother's small shoulders as he pressed Tobirama to his side.

Nuh-uh. He was not going to let someone else babysit his shrunken brother. This is _his_ chance for redemption. No way in hell he was going to let this chance fell to someone else's hands.

Touka gave him a smug smirk.

"See? Someone is already reluctant to let go," she grinned in that creepy hyena-like way at the adult Uchiha before softening her grin to a playful one at Tobirama. "The war is behind us, brat."

"But it was yesterday for me...," Tobirama retorted, voice softer and filled with confusion and hesitance. "Father is injured in yesterday's battle. Mokuton got him."

At this, Hashirama lowered his gaze, lips curled contemplatively. He remembered that battle, yes, since it was one of the few times his father looked at him and gave him a proud smile. It was the first time he managed to contribute something using his mokuton in their battle as he injured Uchiha Tajima and forced the Uchiha to a retreat.

Madara, on the other hand, has completely schooled his face to an empty poker face, slinking into the back of the group once Touka released him.

This Tobirama has no memories of slaying Senju Butsuma. That history-changing event happened when the silver-haired Uchiha was _sixteen_. He won't call it fair and square now if he knew that Madara was the one who killed his beloved father.

As adults, they already came to terms with the blood in their hands once they laid the first foundations of the village.

Child Tobirama might have a different opinion, especially if one remembered that only Tajima who has truly loved him among the Uchiha.

This Tobirama would have a completely different opinion than his adult self.

And Hashirama knew that _that opinion_ would break his baby brother.

The Hokage's dark eyes flickered to one of the frames he kept on his table, and his face promptly softened, lips curled to a gentle smile. He stood and brought the frame with him as he once again levelled his gaze to the current height of his shrunken friend, not even putting up any defences even when the wide dark eyes morphed to dual-patterned spinning red.

"You have mokuton," the silver-haired child said, eyes widening as his chakra flared a little bit more defensively now.

"The only mokuton user left," Hashirama confirmed, face still soft and gentle.

"You're the one who hurt my father then," Tobirama accused, forehead scrunched to a frown.

"Once upon a time, when I was at your age now," Hashirama nodded, smile still pleasantly gentle as he offered the picture frame to the boy. "When peace was still a dream to me rather than this reality we have built together."

Tobirama's frown deepened as his confused gaze fell onto the frame. Then, his dark big eyes widened even more as he gingerly reached out for the frame.

"Is that...?"

"You," Hashirama nodded, tracing the delicate glass of the frame. "Or rather, _us_ ," he explained when Tobirama's confused gaze snapped up to meet his eyes. "One of my clansmen thought it would be nice to immortalise this as a painting, a symbol of the end of our war."

Tobirama blinked owlishly, gaze fixed on the framed picture in awe and wonder. Hashirama quirked a soft smile, knowing that his friend was fond of the picture too, even if the Uchiha Demon never made any move to have a copy painted for himself.

Hashirama let his gaze fell onto the frame, remembering how easy it was for him to lean against the body of the man that killed his own father—a former enemy that later turned to friends (and soon to be brothers)—as they fell victim to the exhaustion of the long day planning their village.

The painting captured Hashirama in all of his snoring glory—with mouth opened wide and a little bit of drool at the corner of his lips, nose buried in silver hair—while his Uchiha companion was immortalised as a picture of serenity, head resting on Hashirama's shoulder and eyes closed in a peaceful sleep.

The two leaders of warring clans, leaning against each other without armour or weapons in sight, asleep in each other's company.

If that wasn't a symbol of peace, Hashirama didn't know what was.

It appeared that his shrunken friend has come to that conclusion too.

"We truly achieved peace?" The question came in the form of childlike wonder, spinning red eyes looked up from the frame to meet Hashirama's dark eyes.

Hashirama reached out and held the pale small hands in his own, lips curled to a gentle loving smile.

"We did," he assured. "Together."

Tobirama cracked a tiny smile, eyes softening as he buried his face under the high collar of his oversized shirt to hide his happy little grin, his voice was muffled by the fabric as he whispered;

"Izuna can live a long happy life now."

It was said in such a soft voice—barely audible to normal hearing—but they were all seasoned shinobi here in this office, with senses enhanced by carefully applied chakra.

Those words rang so clear in their ears.

Tobirama yelped when he was suddenly hauled up in the air and was pressed tight against a solid chest. Warm lips showered the top of his head with kisses, though the hands that were holding him trembled. There were sniffles that slipped in between the kisses, like the man was attempting to hold back tears.

"Hashirama," Izuna called, barely able to constrain the tremors of his voice—because his brother has always genuinely cared about him, putting him above anything else though it was only now Izuna was able to see it—but he kept his tone firm as he added. "May we be excused? I accept everything that you agreed for the festival, but for now..."

His gaze trailed to the child in his arms.

Hashirama's smile was soft and understanding.

"You may," the Hokage permitted. "Go entertain our young guest. I'll send a messenger to update you regarding the finalised festival."

"Thanks," Izuna said with a curt nod, wrapping his scarf around his brother's exposed neck before he shot a grin to the child in his arms. "How about better fitting clothes and some hot cocoa?"

Tobirama answered him with a shy nod.

Izuna's soul melted.

* * *

"Uchiha-san?"

Izuna halted mid-step, tilting his head to sneak a glance at the boy that was riding his back. Tobirama looked even smaller now, bundled up in the thick fabric of Madara's coat and Izuna's scarf, cheeks flushed a light pink due to the cold, but his heartbeats were steady against Izuna's back and his small hands were solid around Izuna's neck.

"Yes?" Izuna smiled, shifting so that Tobirama could cling higher up his back.

(He vaguely remembered the broad back that carried him home every time he was too drained after a battle and he promptly shifted, making sure that his brother was plastered close against his back.)

"I can walk on my own."

"I know, Tobi," Izuna murmured, but made no move to put the boy down. "I just want to hold you a bit longer. Is that okay?"

The hands that were fisting on Izuna's collar tightened in a brief pulse before Izuna felt the small body on his back relaxed and Tobirama's soft cheeks pressed slightly against the outlines of his jaw.

"Is it okay?" The question was mumbled against his skin, merely a warm vibration of shaky breath.

"Hmm?"

"Is it okay for you to be nice to me?"

 _That_ halted Izuna mid-step.

 _Oh, fuck._

But, he schooled his face to that of a confusion, angling a smile towards the frowning boy.

"Why would it not be okay?" He asked, wondering if he was wrong after all—worried that the hatred was already destroying his brother even at this age.

"The elders would not be happy," Tobirama deadpanned, lips pressed slightly in a sad pout. "You will get into trouble."

Izuna squeezed his eyes shut.

Of course, Tobirama has lived long enough in the Uchiha compound to know that the elders disliked him. Even with Tajima's violent protectiveness, the elders have their way to make their point known to the silver-haired boy.

How much had it hurt his brother back then? When their own grandmother was the one who led the elders to outcast him from the clan?

"The elders have no power," Izuna spat those words through his gritted teeth, turning his head as much as he could to meet his brother's widened eyes. "I'm the Clan Head now. They can take their disagreement to the grave for all that I care."

"Clan Head?" Tobirama blinked, face paling as his gaze took in Izuna's face, looking like the realisation finally dawned on him. "Izuna?" he blurted out, voice barely above a whisper.

Izuna quirked a weak smile. "Hey, Aniki."

Tobirama blinked owlishly as if he did not know how to digest that information before chakra suddenly coated his feet, sticking at Izuna's back with precise control as he let go of Izuna's neck in favour of forming a familiar handsign.

Izuna resisted a wince.

"KAI!" Tobirama hissed, squeezing his eyes shut.

The expression that he made when he opened his eyes again was that of bewilderment and fearful hope.

"Izuna?" he mouthed, too high-pitched to be a whisper and more of a squeak instead.

"Aniki," Izuna smiled.

"You no longer hate me?"

It was a rushed question, hopeful all the way from the soft voice to the nervous grip on Izuna's shirt and the widened hopeful black eyes.

It broke Izuna's heart.

In a swift move, Izuna manoeuvred Tobirama until they were face to face—awkward as it was, considering that Tobirama was a bit too tall to be carried like this—and Izuna wasted no time to press one hand over Tobirama's cheek, making sure that his brother could not avoid the eye contact.

"I love you," he said, clear as the sun yet soft as the flowing mountain creek. "I love you, Aniki," he repeated upon the flash of doubt in those dark eyes. "Sage, it took me twenty-three years, but I love you," he murmured, blinking the tears away as he quirked a tiny smile to the flabbergasted boy. "I'm sorry," he whimpered, hands moving to thread in the silver hair, pulling Tobirama close until the boy's face was pressed to the crook of his neck. "I'm sorry for everything. I'm so, so sorry."

Tobirama didn't respond verbally, but his hands came up to awkwardly pat Izuna's head.

Izuna was reminded of bigger hands that always— _always,_ despite the constant rejections—reached out to him, and he found the regret once again overwhelmed him, making it hard to speak. He tangled one of his hands with Tobirama's, holding the much smaller hand in his own as he tried to hide the whimper that threatened to slip past his lips, swallowing the lump that rose to his throat.

When Izuna felt small hand tracing his skin to wipe the wetness that tried to escape his eyes, he let out a tiny noise of regret, lowering his gaze from meeting the gentle dark eyes. Tobirama was smiling—a tiny little quirk of his lips that lightened up his eyes—as that small hand planted itself on Izuna's cheek and those dark eyes softened with love.

"I forgive you."

Three words.

Only three words were needed to unravel Izuna, breaking him apart right here in the middle of Konoha's town square.

He didn't care of the curious glances directed his way, didn't care that the civilians in the streets were no longer trying to be discreet in their eavesdropping because Izuna only has his attention on his shrunken elder brother. He was so focused on his brother, wanting to bask in this forgiveness despite knowing that it was for a short time, considering that he knew Tobirama would have a different opinion once he returned to his actual age.

Didn't matter. As long as his brother could bear being in his arms, Izuna's attention would be solely focused on Tobirama. Everything else was not important. He would pour all of his attention and love on Tobirama, not even minding his surroundings—

—hence the undignified surprised shriek that escaped his lips when someone touched his shoulders from behind.

"Uncle, what the hell?"

Izuna quickly blinked the remnants of tears away, tightening his arms around Tobirama's body as he turned around to face his nephew.

"Kagami," Izuna smiled, still a bit wary but the boy has been so kind to put their past animosity behind them, thus this was the least that Izuna could do to improve their mending relationship. "I see your team managed to get you to clean up," he teased.

Kagami didn't respond to that jibe.

Instead, the young Clan Head stared at the boy in Izuna's arms, mismatched eyes widened in shock, jaw slacked open in a disbelieving gaoe.

"Dad?"

Izuna grimaced upon hearing that soft whisper.

"Who are you?" Tobirama instantly responded, sounding confused yet so very curious.

For a split second, Kagami's face twisted to an expression of hurt, but he was already a fearsome shinobi by this point, so it didn't even take a blink of an eye for the teenage boy to compose himself and quirked a smile towards Tobirama.

Izuna was deeply grateful for that.

God knew that if this happened a year ago, Kagami would probably already try to burn him to ashes the moment he saw the tiny version of his father in Izuna's arms. No question asked. That Kagami would be all too homicidal happy to murder Izuna.

Thank god that they were in a better kind of relationship now.

But of course, Lady Karma loved Tobirama so much that she has chosen this particular moment to make Izuna's life more difficult.

"Kagami-sama! Kagami-sama!"

Izuna braced himself when Ayame and a bunch of other children barrelled through the crowd, carrying a box of suspiciously dangerous-looking traps decorated with sparkles, ribbons and painted doodles—an oddly regular sight when it came to their prototypes now—before they screeched to a sudden halt upon seeing Izuna and the shrunken Tobirama, almost toppling over each other as they did so.

Kagami winced before anything could even happen.

Not a good sign.

Tobirama showed no signs of recognition, but the kids recognised him instantly.

"Shishou?"

Izuna winced.

Oh, dear.

* * *

"All of you are my kids?"

The bewilderment was obvious in those words, laced with disbelief and a tinge of awed hope as Tobirama met the excited gaze of the children.

"Yes!" They cheered in unison.

Tobirama shrunk backwards when the hyper-excited children practically loomed over him, crowding him with unwavering attention. They were not even hiding their fascination over his current predicament, but instead seemed to be ecstatic about it.

Of course. These were Tobirama's kids. How could one expect any other reactions?

Izuna wondered if he should keep an eye on those kids before they carted Tobirama away to the labs and do 'research'. It was probable. It's _possible._ And Izuna had this strange premonition that they were bidding the time to do so—don't even ask why he thought that.

Probably because of the way the kids were crowding around their shrunken patriarch.

Like hyenas waiting to go for the kill.

God, these kids were _scary._

In the centre of the enthusiastic children, Tobirama stood hunched and unsure, obviously not used to be at the centre of affectionate attention. There was a faint blush dusting Tobirama's cheeks, and his eyes were still widened in shock at the barrage of loving attention poured on him.

The kids didn't care. They have already ditched their intentions on asking Kagami's approval of their trap designs in favour of fawning over their shrunken patriarch.

"Shishou, why are you so skinny?"

"Um. I can feel your ribs, shishou! This is not good."

"Wait, you no longer have to work now, right? Does that mean we can play all day?"

"Aaaahhh shishou you're tinier than me!"

"Is he? Oh, you're my height now."

"Does that mean we still have hopes to grow as tall as shishou?"

"Oh my god, I think we do."

"Cute cute cute cute AAAAAAH I WANNA SQUISH YOU!"

Cue Tobirama's shocked squeak when Ayame pulled him into a crushing hug, which was an adorable sight to behold since Ayame has hit her growth spurt recently and was tall and strong enough to hold Tobirama till the boy was practically dangling off the grounds.

Kagami didn't even know if he could stop Ayame (and the kids) from smothering Tobirama with love.

"Do you want to see the labs?"

Tobirama blinked. "Labs?" He asked, perking up a little bit straighter now. "We could afford labs?"

"Yes! Our labs! At the clan's compound," Ayame answered enthusiastically, still holding on Tobirama's hands. "They're big and well-equipped. You love them so much."

Tobirama shifted his bewildered gaze to Izuna. "Our clan has labs?"

"No no no no," one of the boys piped in before Izuna could answer. " _Our_ clan has labs."

Tobirama frowned. He opened his mouth to ask, but the only noise that escaped him was a surprised half-squeak half-shriek as Ayame apparently could no longer hold herself back and has decided to keep Tobirama imprisoned in her embrace while the rest of the children erupted to an organised cheer.

"Let's go! Let's go!" The younger children cheered. "To the labs!"

Tobirama's face softened at them. He wriggled around in Ayame's embrace until his hand could reach out to ruffle the children's hair. The act seemed like an automated instinct, and his hesitant smile grew wider when the smaller children beamed and basked in his touch.

"Okay," he breathed out with an obliging smile, voice fond and gentle—a reminisce of how he was when he was two feet taller—but his expression switched to crestfallen and hesitant as he turned towards Izuna. "Can I?"

Izuna internally whimpered. How could one say 'no' to that?

"Izuna-sama and Kagami-nii should head to the Clan Head's meeting now," Ayame said, giving a stern look at both Clan Head. "You two are already late as it is. We'll keep him company while you attend to _your_ responsibilities."

Kagami openly rolled his eyes as Ayame once again captured the half-free Tobirama into a crushing hug.

"Shishou, since you're smaller than me now, can I piggyback you?" she asked the blushing boy, making a show of her strength as she lifted him up. "You're not heavy at all."

"No! I want to piggyback shishou!"

"No, me! I'm the biggest!"

"Me!"

"Me," Ayame hissed possessively. "I'm the _Clan Heir."_

Tobirama stared blankly at the arguing children as he was still stuck in Ayame's crushing embrace and was probably too shocked to react.

"Um, I can walk on my own?" he squeaked out, seemingly that he has no idea what to do, suddenly being at the centre of attention and love like this.

The arguing children stopped their bickering to meet his gaze.

"But shishou—" One of them started.

"You _always_ piggyback us."

"All the time."

"And we can't do the same to you before because you're sooo tall."

"So, this is our chance."

Tobirama shot a helpless gaze at Kagami and Izuna.

Kagami resisted a sigh but has already slipped into his Clan Head mode as he sent a stern gaze towards the children.

"Children," he started, putting all commotion into dead silence as the kids stared up to him, recognising the tone of authority in his voice. "Release him this instance," he ordered, squaring his shoulders and steeled his nerves when they tried to use the puppy eyes on him. "You're making him uncomfortable."

"But—"

"Later," he said firmly, not wavering even against the horde of pleading puppy eyes. "You're supposed to see the quartermaster to discuss your trap designs, aren't you?"

"But, but—"

"I approve," Kagami said, gesturing towards the abandoned traps. "Good job as always," he added with the usual business-like tone that was mixed with enough hint of pride. "Now, move along and go meet the quartermaster. She has been waiting for you."

He then shot Ayame a smug look.

"We all have _duties_ to attend, aren't we?"

Ayame scowled at him.

"Move along," he ordered, _finally_ retrieving Tobirama from Ayame's possessive grip. "Go. Don't make the quartermaster wait any longer," with a smile, Kagami then skillfully manoeuvred Tobirama away from the kids. "You'll see him again. For now, _go."_

Ayame's sulky glare at him spoke for her feelings, promising pain and suffering—or a horrible prank, Kagami wasn't sure which was worst—even long after she and her minions have stomped their ways to the quartermaster.

Kagami could only smile in utter resignation.

The kids are going to prank him for this, he just knew it.

* * *

 **A/N: Has anyone noticed that the Uchiha is kinda short as compared to other clan...? Madara, Obito and Izuna are all 170+ in canon but Hashi, Kakashi and Tobirama are all over 180cm. Headcanon that the Uchiha genetic is inclined towards the short side of the scale.**


End file.
